How Would ROP Use the Additional Space? – Glad You Asked

A couple months ago, I announced in one of our “Urban Voices” newsletters that the building across the street from ROP (formerly the Boys and Girls Club) had gone up for sale and we were feeling led to try and buy it. Well, we still feel that way and remain pretty excited about what this could mean to ROP’s ministry and our community in terms of:

Youth Ministry – the 1523 Building provides wonderful space for kids to play including a full size gymnasium with 6 basketball hoops and an outdoor playground.

Existing programs – the 16,500 square feet of space includes several large classrooms which would provide expanded space for the growth of our ESL, Work Readiness and possible future programs.

Community Development – moving most of our existng programs across the street would allow us to use our existing building to better support our Community Development efforts for formal and informal neighborhood gatherings and activities.

Hospitality for the Homeless – We envision using the front of our existing building as a Hospitality Room for people from the neighborhood, and especially our homeless neighbors to gather or just hangout, especially when the weather is extremely hot or cold.

To help everyone better conceptualize the expanded “ROP campus” and how the space will be used, we got some help preparing some conceptual drawings, which I am including with this eblast. (These are kind of small, so if you would like 8.5 x 11 versions of any or all of these drawings, feel free to ask and I will send them to you.To make that request, click Contact Us.)

I am also very excited to report that The Anschutz Foundation has already made a commitment of $300k toward the purchase of the building. This commitment is contingent upon raising the additional funding needed to make an acceptable offer (probably $1 million give or take) and providing the Foundation (and ourselves) sufficient assurance that we can also support the related increases in ROP’s operating budget.

Our hope and prayer is that this significant demonstration of support might help to encourage others to partner with ROP and The Anschutz Foundation in making this dream a reality. So please pray with us to that end if this acquisition is truly God’s will (as we believe it is) and feel free to forward this to anyone who might be interested in learning more about this extraordinary opportunity to make a major impact in the life of our community.

During Spark Ministry Nights our kids are exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ through lessons, crafts, skits, and relationships with loving adult mentors. We also offer the children opportunities to challenge themselves, to try new things, and to trust in others and in God. For more info contact: Lorah Smith at 303-344-4219 or [email protected]

During Spark Ministry Nights our kids are exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ through lessons, crafts, skits, and relationships with loving adult mentors. We also offer the children opportunities to challenge themselves, to try new things, and to trust in others and in God. For more info contact: Lorah Smith at 303-344-4219 or [email protected]

During Spark Ministry Nights our kids are exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ through lessons, crafts, skits, and relationships with loving adult mentors. We also offer the children opportunities to challenge themselves, to try new things, and to trust in others and in God. For more info contact: Lorah Smith at 303-344-4219 or [email protected]

During Spark Ministry Nights our kids are exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ through lessons, crafts, skits, and relationships with loving adult mentors. We also offer the children opportunities to challenge themselves, to try new things, and to trust in others and in God. For more info contact: Lorah Smith at 303-344-4219 or [email protected]